Members Present: Chairman Stephen C. Lobik, Vice Chairman Douglas R. North, Clerk Joseph M. Prior
Superintendent: Craig W. Jalbert
Secretary: Dale Barnes-Johnson
Open the Meeting: The meeting was called to order at 7:30a.m.
Accept the Minutes: A motion was made by Joe and seconded by Doug to accept the April 28, 2010 meeting minutes. Motion passed unanimously.
OLD BUSINESS:
Town Meeting ~ Monday, May 10, 2010 ~ All of the Water & Sewer articles passed. Other articles received minimal discussion, including the school; it seemed the most discussion was regarding demand fees.
Chlorination Equipment ~ The equipment for Bethany Road has arrived, Craig lead the Commissioners to the shop where it is currently being stored until installation takes place. The Commissioners looked the equipment over and discussed its design.
Sewer Inflow & Infiltration (I&I) Remediation ~ Sewer Easement Access Road, Tom Gregiore was low bidder and will be the contractor doing the job. Craig had the surveyor re-staked the area after Rocky Mountain took the trees out so that the site is ready to go.
As part of I&I, Craig informed the Commission he has received a packet from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as part of the process for them to renew Palmers permit to discharge into the Chicopee River, the Town of Monson has been included as a co-permittee for certain conditions of this permit. A draft permit developed by the EPA which contains all terms and conditions which the Town of Monson is responsible was included. Section E of the draft permit contains requirements for the operation and maintenance of our sewer system. The most significant change will be the requirement to develop and implement an infiltration and inflow control plan. The plan needs to be submitted within six months of the effective date of the permit and then a
summary report annually thereafter. Craig would like to send the package to Tom Hansen who is Tata & Howards Waste Water specialist so that he can review and give a synopsis of what our duties and responsibilities are as co-permittee, and share his recommendations. Then as a group, come up with policies with regards to sump pumps which will be extremely challenging and require house to house inspections. The comprehensive plan will require input from us as well as John Morrell when access to storm drains would be needed. Inspections will require additional man power, or be contracted out because we simply cannot stop doing what we do now to fit it in.
PVPC/Park Avenue ~ An informational meeting will take place on Thursday, May 27, 2010, at 6:00 p.m.., at the Board of Selectman’s meeting room. The project team will take this opportunity to discuss this project in detail and answer questions related to the project. The job is expected to go to bid Friday, May 28. Timing of the project will depend on the contractor’s schedule.
FY2010 Lien Process ~ The procedure just implemented last year for delinquent Water & Sewer Balances becoming a Lien on to Real Estate bills was discussed. According to the Town Collector DOR prefers Demand Notices be issued within 15 days of the last quarter due date, which happens to be May 20th. Demands will include a Water & Sewer Commission approved Taxpayer message. Demands will be issued in June, which will generate additional receipts prior to the Fiscal Year closing. Final Notices are issued in the beginning of December with another Water & Sewer Commission approved Taxpayer message prior to the printing of Real Estate Tax Bills. The Commission agreed this process is more practical and less time consuming than the shut off procedure used in the past.
Department Activity ~
Hydrant Maintenance ~ Now that the hydrant flushing program has been completed Tom and Randy used leak detection equipment to make certain all hydrants are properly closed. The focus is now on hydrant maintenance, which is very time intensive but essential to ensuring proper hydrant performance, there are 217 hydrants, concentration is on the newer hydrants that require lubrication; food grade grease is used. Craig is trying to get this done before installing chlorination equipment and is juggling the workload which will be increasing soon with the summer work approaching, which include road jobs, Memorial Hall, service line replacements.
Consumer Confidence Report Certification ~ Certification requirements have been completed.
Annual Statistical Report (ASR) ~ Considering this is the first year for the all electronic filing system, Craig was surprised it only took 3 days to complete and it went much better then expected. It took two years for the software to be developed, therefore not many changes took place on the report itself so we were able to use the data collected in the same format as last year.
Hydrant Backflow/Meter ~ From the time of the last meeting, the unit came in and is now installed on a cement pad at Palmer Road. There will be slight changes to the tanker procedures; however it is a benefit to have a meter and backflow device that will not give issues. Craig would like to rebuild the 2” to use for Highway when filling the sweeper.
Harrison Avenue Customer ~ Last week a customer stopped in the office disputing the usage for Jan-March, and expressed disbelief with the accuracy of the meter. Craig attempted to explain to the gentlemen that by design, the older the meters get they slow down, there is no way they can speed up. Dale recalled this particular account being investigated when the usage of 150,000 seemed high for a single family account after reviewing usage reports for the 3rd Quarter October-December billing period, which notes had confirmed. Prior to bills being issued Tom & Randy verified the read, and after a few attempts of trying to get in touch with the customer, learned from the tenant there was a toilet leak, a note was posted requesting the owner contact the office. In February
the customer contacted the office, Tom went to the house, confirmed toilet needed to be fixed. Customer disputed the accuracy of the meter, and insisted it be tested. Tom tested it and it tested fine. The usage on the next bill was also high, so the customer came down and wanted the meter changed out. Craig attempted to explain that usage for Jan-Mar included over a month of time prior to the toilet being fixed, and explained that the next bill should be back to normal, however the customer refused to listen to the explanations and demanded to speak to one of the Commissioners. Looking back Craig realizes he should have sent a letter instead of giving him Commissioners number. He did contact Doug, who also tried to explain the design of the meter. Recent meter readings indicate usage is on pace to go back to average usage. The Commission discussed the precedent that would be set by giving in to the customers request to replace a
properly functioning meter, and give the impression that the meter was wrong which it clearly wasn’t and would lead to other customers calling. The Commission agreed in this instance it would be best to read this meter on a monthly basis and send a letter to the customer explaining usage history.
NEXT MEETING: The next meeting has been set for Wednesday, June 16, 2010 at 6:30p.m.
ADJOURN: A motion was made by Doug and seconded by Joe to adjourn from open session to go into executive session at 8:40a.m.
___________________________________
Joseph M. Prior, Clerk
cc: Selectmen
| 
